Watchtower ( attempt #351 )

[Gentley]

I know watchtowers ain`t a new idea, i`ve tried the search and came to the conclusion that i might be offering a different attempt here:

Features:
- no AI whatsoever
- no weapons

Problem targeted:
Sneaky Grievers hiding behind North-/Westwalls, Trees or whatever, trying to run into your homestead once you open the gate, which is a nothing but a sideeffect of the isometric game-engine.




Takes a load of Boards and Blocks + Ropes/Fibres and/or Metal.

Can be build everywhere, should be build next to your gate, because it does this:

[climb up]
*Sandclock appears*
Eiter
[Textmsg]There are no/x non-kin Hearthlings within yy (30? 40? 80? ) tiles radius of sight [/Textmsg]
or
Drowsing Rod like Circle, showing above.

[climb down]

Walk happily through your door.

Alternative use: Scout your enemies during a siege.


Flame on.

[bitza]

No flames here, but it seems to me a bit unbalanced in favor of the defenders. North/west gates, trees and rocks near gates, and plain old not paying attention are all preventable scenarios. Plus most villages have crossroads in order to jump outside anyways.

Also not only would potential raiders get spotted by the tower, but so would the guy who's out making maps or foraging for rustroot or just looking for bears to kill - should he be immediately targeted by the watchtower as well?

[Gentley]

No flames here, but it seems to me a bit unbalanced in favor of the defenders. North/west gates, trees and rocks near gates, and plain old not paying attention are all preventable scenarios. Plus most villages have crossroads in order to jump outside anyways.

The fact that noone really uses Gates is one of the reasons i started this thread.

Also: "Welcome to Haven and Hearth, we don`t build Gates to the North or West ( and we dont by swimming )." Shouldn`t be like this imho.

Also not only would potential raiders get spotted by the tower, but so would the guy who's out making maps or foraging for rustroot or just looking for bears to kill - should he be immediately targeted by the watchtower as well?

Where`s the problem? There`s a reason why i didn`t pick a specific Radius, f.e. 30 would hardly see anyone whos out of sight anyway, and even if: It`s your fault if you lurk around my home.

[theTrav]

hiding behind stuff is a bit of a flawed mechanic.
Especially now there's clients that mod around that.
I reccomend implementing stealth in its stead.

Maybe have this watch tower do the dowsing, and give you some sort of x-ray vision buff for a short time

[DatOneGuy]

I think this would work great by adding a temporary alpha mask to all items except the watch tower while you're on it, have it either have a cooldown before you can use it again or something of the sorts.

When you get up on it, it rolls your per*exp versus the person's int*stealth (hopefully in a less broken way than the current system).

If something like this is put in it should come with a rival mechanic that improves stealth: Hiding. If you're at nighttime near an object based on your stealth*int you should be able to hide. What speed you're moving at should factor in, your stealth, if you're near objects (if this is possible to factor in), and perhaps also your int.

Adding this by itself seems like you're going to break something that's not too terribly broken, you can just be 'careful' as it is and not have too many issues. Everything described as a problem here is done because you DECIDED to leave yourself open to attack in such ways.

[Shoop]

Mmm, I think the Devs would be more up to making food that gives you x-ray vision over a building/clothing that does that. Some eagle ritual of a sort.

[Jubal]

I'd really like proper watchposts that can be used for ranged attack basis as well as local LOS. Might require a second contructible siege weapon for attackers too to balance it; a ballista would be cool.

But considering the tech levels of some things in the hearthlands, defensive structures seem to be oddly rubbish atm. And the north/west gate issue is just stupid.